Increased prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Honduras, Central America Article

Palmer, CJ, Makler, M, Klaskala, WI et al. (1998). Increased prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Honduras, Central America . REVISTA PANAMERICANA DE SALUD PUBLICA-PAN AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 4(1), 40-42. 10.1590/S1020-49891998000700007

cited authors

  • Palmer, CJ; Makler, M; Klaskala, WI; Lindo, JF; Baum, MK; Ager, AL

authors

abstract

  • We report on our investigation of a malaria outbreak in Honduras, Central America, in January 1997. We tested 202 patients with fever and chills using thin and thick blood film microscopy. Sixteen patients lived in the city and the rest lived in rural areas. A total of 95 samples (47%) were positive for malaria parasites. Seventy-nine percent (63/80) of the rural patients were infected with Plasmodium vivax and 21% (17/80) were infected with P. falciparum. In the urban area, all 15 infected patients had P. vivax malaria and none showed evidence of P. falciparum. Since previous reports indicate that falciparum malaria accounts for only 2% of the overall malaria infections in Honduras, the results reported here suggest that there is a dramatic increase in falciparum malaria in the area of Honduras investigated in this study.

publication date

  • January 1, 1998

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 40

end page

  • 42

volume

  • 4

issue

  • 1